1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a head and chin rest for face-down operations and especially concerns the need both to avoid patient discomfort and trauma and to provide convenient access by the anesthesiologist to the nose and mouth.
2. Description of Related Art
In face-down operations with the patient in either a prone or prone sitting position, the patient's head is commonly turned to the side even though this puts the cervical spine into an abnormal position and often leaves the patient with a sore neck after a long operation. The sidewise head position constricts the trachea and larynx, thus tending to produce throat soreness when there is a tube in the patient's throat. When the patient is in a prone position, the head can be positioned face-down on an annular cushion that rests on a support cantilevered from the head end of the operating table. However, the prone sitting position requires a kneeling attachment to be fastened to the foot of the operating table, and to use an annular cushion would require a hole to be formed in the bed of the operating table.
The operating table of U.S. Pat. No. 2,577,177 (Anderson) has "a concave head rest 31 to engage the forehead of a patient" (col. 4, lines 52-53) which enables the head to be face-down and also provides good access to the nose and mouth. U.S. Pat. No. 3,289,674 (Platt) shows in FIG. 1 a similar forehead cushion 108, but both of those head rests leave the chin unsupported, thus producing a lordotic curve in the cervical spine and resulting in problems similar to the consequences of turning the head sidewise. U.S. Pat. No. 2,509,086 (Eaton) shows a head rest which, like those of the Anderson and Platt patents, leaves the chin unsupported. The Eaton device includes a platform enabling the patient's head to be positioned over the middle of the bed of an operating table.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,144,527 (Demarest) shows a "Body Member Rest" from which is cantilevered a bracket that carries a forehead support and a chin support for a person in a prone, face-down position. Combined forehead and chin supports for a face-down person are also shown in U.S. Pats. Nos. 2,688,142 (Jensen) and 4,504,050 (Osborne), but neither is said to be useful for face-down operations and would not be since neither affords good access to the nose and mouth.